Confidence was as high as ever for the Oregon women’s tennis team heading into Saturday’s dual match against No. 9 Washington.
The 25th-ranked Ducks were
riding an eight-match winning streak after defeating Washington State 6-1 at home on
Friday. The team was right where it wanted to be entering its matchup against a top-10 team and its rival from Seattle.
“We started the season feeling
extremely confident. We need
to take it to the extra level. We
can’t wait for the Huskies,” Junior Anna Leksinska said before the Washington match.
However, the Ducks (8-1 overall) faltered and were upended by Washington, 5-2, despite jumping out to a 1-0 lead after capturing the doubles point.
Oregon then lost five of the six singles matches to suffer its first loss of the season.
The only singles victory
came from sophomore
Dominika Dieskova at the No. 2
position, who defeated Dinka Hadzic in straight sets, 6-3, 6-0. The 22-year-old Dieskova, ranked
No. 34 in the nation, improved her
singles record to 8-1.
“Every time we play Washington it comes down to a couple
of points here and there,” Oregon head coach Nils Schyllander
said. “They are obviously one of the best teams in the country, and that’s where we want to be.”
The Ducks remain confident as they have another shot at the Huskies on Mar. 22 in Seattle.
“If we keep playing the way we have, we are very capable of beating them,” Schyllander said.
Senior Daria Panova, ranked No. 31, suffered her first singles loss of the season against the Huskies’ Dea Sumantri in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. Panova’s singles record fell to 7-1.
The Oregon women begin Pacific-10 Conference play in two weeks when they travel to take on Arizona Feb. 25 at 1:30 p.m. and Arizona State on Feb. 26 at 11 a.m.
Men capture win after losing twice last week
The Oregon men’s tennis team broke its two-match losing streak when it defeated UC-Santa
Barbara, 6-1 on Sunday.
The Ducks (6-3 overall) returned to their winning ways after losing to Boise State on Friday and Brigham Young on Feb. 5 in two 6-1 defeats.
“It was good to get back on the winning track,” Oregon head coach Kevin Kowalik said. “We are still
trying to find our niche as a team, but I felt we competed a lot better than we did against Boise State.”
Senior Sven Swinnen improved his singles record to 8-0 as he easily triumphed over Santa Barbara’s Ivan d’Argence, 6-1, 6-2. Swinnen is Oregon’s all-time leader in career victories with 72.
Oregon’s only loss of the match came at the No. 6 position after first-year Duck Chris Liao lost to Hagen Brody in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
The Oregon men hit the road
to face Minnesota on Friday at
3:30 p.m. and Northwestern on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Alex Tam is a freelance reporter for the Daily Emerald
